Russian general killed by car bomb in Moscow, officials say

A Russian general was killed in a car bomb attack in Moscow, officials said.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov died Monday morning after an explosive device placed under a car detonated.

Sarvarov, 56, was the head of the armed forces’ operational training department, the committee added.

He said one theory being investigated was that the bomb was planted with the involvement of Ukrainian intelligence services. Ukraine has not commented.

Sarvarov died in hospital as a result of his injuries, the committee said, adding that it had opened an investigation into murder and illegal trafficking of explosives.

Investigators have been sent to the scene, in a parking lot near an apartment block in the south of the Russian capital.

Images from the area show a heavily damaged white car with its doors blown out, surrounded by other vehicles.

According to Russian media, Sarvarov previously participated in combat operations during the Ossetian-Ingush conflict and the Chechen wars in the 1990s and early 2000s, and also led operations in Syria between 2015 and 2016.

Vladimir Putin was immediately informed of Sarvarov’s death, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, several military officers and high-profile individuals have been attacked in the Russian capital.

Darya Dugina, the 29-year-old daughter of a prominent nationalist figure and close Putin ally, was killed in a suspected car bombing in 2022.

General Yaroslav Moskalik was killed in a car bomb attack last April, while General Igor Kirillov was killed in December 2024 when a device hidden in a scooter was detonated remotely.

A Ukrainian source later told the BBC that Kirillov was murdered by the Ukrainian security service, although this was never officially confirmed. As a matter of policy, Ukraine never officially admits or claims responsibility for targeted attacks.